Reports from China say the authorities have banned a group set up to monitor corruption Corruption Watch.

Its leader, An Jun, said the government had rejected an application to register in the city of Xinyang.

He said officials told him there was no point forming the group as the Chinese Communist Party already had an anti-corruption monitoring office.

Mr An said he regretted the decision, adding that senior officials had themselves called on the people and the media to mobilize and denounce corruption cases.

This is the first response to a number of applications for registration made by the group, which has about eighty members in ten provinces.

Meanwhile, government officials say China's Supreme Court has appointed ten judges to supervise efforts to curb corruption within the judiciary.